Tales of the Shikon Jewel Ch 1
by CuteEars
Summary: It's been one second or one million years, but something has awoken Inuyasha.


There was darkness, for a moment or a millennia, I wasn't sure. It was as if I'd taken a sharp inhale of breath, but been unable to exhale, stuck in a permanent state, held frozen. There was no comprehensible thought, there was no me, there was nothing tangible, just darkness surrounding everything that was or ever could be.

Then, I felt.

It was dull at first, it was slow. A labored and tentative heartbeat. The beats pounded in my ears, coming slowly. It was the first sensation I'd had outside of the darkness for as long as I could remember. Thoughts began to fill my empty head, one at a time. What are these sensations? Where am I? Is this the afterlife? And one question filled me, though I dare not admit it to anyone but myself; Kikyo, Where are you?

As if they had just appeared, I felt the weight of my eyelids, they hung on my face like a tree in the ground, unmoving and everlasting. Since my vision was restricted to the inside of my eyelids I was forced to awaken my ears. Dull sounds drifted into my ears, nothing distinguishable, just murmurs from a million different people all talking at the same time in a crowded room.

It wasn't what I'd heard or saw, but the presence I felt and the amazing scent that began to waft into my nostrils that finally forced my stiff body to move itself. It was Kikyo, I felt her near me.

Instantly my eyes snapped open and before me I saw a lesser demon flying through the air, making quick strides toward something I could not see.

"The jewel!" it screeched in a raspy tone, "Give me the sacred jewel!" It's lumpy body cut through the night sky and dove toward the ground. My eyes locked on its prey.

Kikyo.

She lay on the ground in front of me, breathing heavily and shaking. Her eyes were fixed onto the centipede demon heading right for her. I was almost half tempted to stay quiet and watch the Kikyo slay Mistress Centipede, but with her in front of me I could not help but taunt her.

"Hello Kikyo, playing with bugs now are we?"

"Huh?" She responded, eying my restrained frame, "So you're alive?"

"Why are you taking so long to kill it? Just do her like you did me." I motioned to the sacred arrow protruding from my torso. She stayed motionless on the ground, an expression as if she were in a dazed dream. "Hey, you look pretty dumb there, Kikyo. The Kikyo I know wouldn't waste her time."

That got a rise out of her. She came to her feet, and it was only then that I noted the strange clothes she was wearing. Gone were her normal crimson priestess robes, she now donned a skimpy emerald skirt that exposed the milky flesh of her thigh. The same emerald shade carried to her collar that sat atop a puffy white long-sleeved shirt accented with a red bow below the collar. It wasn't as if I considered myself a clothing buff, but attire as odd as that had to be commented on.

"That does it! Kikyo, Kikyo, whoever she is she's not me, 'cause my name is-"

Suddenly I saw Mistress Centipede's form gain on us at a breakneck speed.

"She's here," I warned.

In the blink of an eye I watched as the centipede swooped in and lunged for Kikyo, but instead of pulling out an arrow and easily finishing her off, Kikyo cowered on the ground, narrowly missing the attack. Villagers shot arrows into the side of Mistress centipede and pulled at the strings attached to them. "Pull!"demanded one of the villagers, tugging the demon away.

"You're pathetic Kikyo." I scoffed, even wondering how such a scared woman could have pinned me to this tree.

"I'm not Kikyo! Look, I'm telling you, I'm not her!" She sprang to her feet. "Whoever 'her' is."

"And I'm telling you that you gotta be her, 'cause if you're not her there's no way that you could smell so..." I sniffed the air, and instead of being greeted with Kikyo's familiar scent, a scent of fresh water and herbal remedies, and of long summer days, I smelled something different. It was a smell I couldn't put my finger on, a scent not unlike a rainstorm. "Y-you're not her..." I recoiled slightly.

"I know!" She yelled, "My name is Kagome! Ka-Go-Me!"

I turned my head away from the impostor and stared at the ground. "You're right... Kikyo was cuter." How could I have mixed them up at all? I stole a quick glance and confirmed, "Much cuter."

Without warning Mistress centipede grabbed the girl's waist and attempted to drag her away, only instead of being whisked off, the girl gripped two handfuls of my silver hair and held on for dear life. I only hoped that this would unstick my body from the tree, but instead I was only met with pain.

"Let go of me!" She screamed in a high pitched tone.

"Ow! Ow! Ow! You let go of me!" I shot back.

The villagers returned and one exclaimed "Inuyasha has revived"

Again the demon rasped "Give me the sacred jewel!" as it strained against the girl's body. Sacred jewel? If this wasn't Kikyo then why would this girl have the jewel? I needed to think of a plan fast. It was a weak demon, I could see that much, if only I wasn't bound to the tree of ages, I'd be able to slice its head off in one swipe. Mistress centipede then opened her mouth, exposing a gaping hole rimmed with jagged yellow teeth. I knew then we were doomed.

The girl tensed. "Stop it!" She screamed, sticking her hand out of ward off the demon's impending attack. To the surprise of everyone a strange purple field of energy was expelled from her palm and the demon shot back about eight yards, many of its limbs severing in the process.

"Hey, I did that before too, in the well, " she quietly remarked. "But how'd I do it, though?"

Before she could dwell on that thought for very long Mistress Centipede whirled back around and collided with the girl, flinging her in the air. I watched in horror as, along with a smattering of the girl's own blood, a jewel erupted from her side.

The Shikon Jewel.

As the jewel fell to the ground so did the girl. They both landed in front of me and I knew that there was only one way to save myself.

"Hey, you, get up." She didn't move, and I saw the demon fly closer, "I said get up! Get up! You need to give me that jewel, it's the only way you'll make it." She lifted her head and her eyes stared into mine. She gripped the jewel and reared up to toss it to me when suddenly and older woman on horseback shot a single arrow into the demon's skull, killing it instantly.

"Wh-what?" No! I'd lost my chance! It's corpse fell to the ground with a heavy thud, narrowly missing the girl. The crowd began to relax and even the girl let out a sigh of relief.

"Kagome," The old woman called, "Ye mustn't linger in the forest of Inuyasha. I beg of ye please return to my home where I can care for your wounds."

"Okay." The girl replied weakly, staggering to her feet.

"Hey! You can't just leave me here! What are you doing?!" I attempted to thrash about to free myself of my restraints, but it was useless. And so I stayed, deep in the forest, as the Jewel left my sight.


End file.
